-" Democrat Bill Clinton was president in 1998, when the government finally recorded a surplus.
- There also were budget surpluses in 1999, 2000 and in 2001. 2001 was the last year the Clinton administration proposed the budget.
- Republican George W. Bush succeeded Clinton in 2001. The United States had a budget deficit in 2002, and it has recorded budget deficits every year since."
Being an older fiscal conservative I have lived through these periods of deficit and surplus. Frankly, I cannot tell the difference. The recent budget deal passed by Government increases the deficit more than previous deals what does that mean in real terms to individuals now, not future generations? I would like to hear your thoughts.
With the current low interest rates, the debt is mostly just pushed down the road to the next generations, but if the interest rate starts to rise, we are going to be in a situation where 30-50% of the incoming taxes are spent financing the debt. I liked Rand Paul last night trying to stand against 1.5 trillion of new debt, but he was overwhelmed by all those who wanted to send pork home to their districts and were too scared to raise taxes. I would love to see a couple years where the budget was frozen. And the different branches of government would get to choose where they wanted the money spent, instead of Congress micromanaging the budget, like telling the military it had to buy this many new tanks and this overpriced aircraft.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
